


Batter Up

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Community: 1-million-words, F/M, First Kiss, Het, Rare Pair, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-12 07:12:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10485249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Eddie tackles Joe about his relationship - or lack thereof - with Caitlin.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Constants](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4656078) by [helsinkibaby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby). 



> "We're not together. Why does everyone keep asking?"  
> http://1-million-words.livejournal.com/1976549.html
> 
> *  
> So this prompt reminded me of my Het Big Bang from a couple of years ago and a scene that Caitlin walked in on the end of that I'd always wanted to write from Joe's point of view. Since that fic was from Caitlin's I couldn't include it, but I finally had an excuse to now! Though this may not make sense if you haven't read "Constants" it makes me happy to have written it!

Joe knew there was any amount of paperwork he should be doing - after all, the case against the bank robbers they'd just caught wouldn't make itself. But he was having a hard time thinking about that crime when the other events of the last few days were so pressing. Not to mention just plain weird. 

He had to be honest - ever since the particle accelerator had exploded, ever since Barry had woken up from his resulting coma, Joe's life had been weird. The events of a year ago - his kidnapping by Mark Mardon, the tsunami and his subsequent injury and rehab - had only served to make things even more strange and unusual. He'd thought that was as weird as it got.

Then he'd come across Caitlin in the cemetery a couple of days ago, the two of them obviously having had the same idea, paying their respects to Cisco on the anniversary of his death. He'd known something was up with her, something more than just the memories of the previous year. His asking her to go to get something to eat had taken him by surprise, even if it wasn't the first time that they'd been alone together - there had been a lot of times over the last year that Iris and Barry had slipped off together, leaving him and Caitlin to their own devices. Somewhere along the way they'd become friends. 

Somewhere along the way, Joe had begun thinking of more than that. 

And if that hadn't been weird enough, falling for a woman young enough to be his daughter, over the last couple of days, that woman had been living in his house because she was being stalked by her psychotic, murdering ex-boss, while being counselled by the holographic like projection of her dead best friend's doppelgänger from another universe. 

It all made Joe's head spin. 

He was interrupted in his thoughts by a gentle knock on his doorframe. Lifting his head, he saw Eddie standing there, an enquiring look on his face. "I was just about to head out," he said, hooking a thumb over his shoulder. He tilted his head, narrowed his eyes even more as he asked, "You ok?" 

Joe nodded but his expression must have shown something else because Eddie came into the room, stood near his desk, his back against the bookcase. "How's Caitlin?" 

Joe rubbed a hand over his face. The last time he'd seen Caitlin, she's been sitting on his couch, tired and emotional because Wells had gone, once and for all, and Cisco had vanished without a trace. He couldn't tell Eddie any of that though, so he settled for something near the truth. "Pretty freaked out." 

Despite his words, a funny smile hovered around Eddie's face. "And how is her staying at your place working out?" 

"Partner, do not go there." Joe didn't even try to stop his eye roll, but Eddie was not for turning, more's the pity. 

"First of all, I'm not your partner anymore-"

"Which reminds me, should you be talking to your boss like this?" 

Not even Joe's index finger pointing in his direction could derail Eddie. "-and second, the only one not going there is you." Eddie shook his head. "When are you just going to admit it?"

Joe sighed, rubbed a hand over his face, hoping it would banish Eddie's words, then memory of Iris's not quite pointed questions, of the way the ghostly Cisco had looked at him and Caitlin together. "We're not together," he mumbled, "and I don't know why everyone keeps-"

"Because we can see what the two of you can't. That you're perfect for each other." 

Flexing his leg, Joe winced. "A half crippled police captain twice her age? Yeah, that's exactly what Caitlin wants." 

"I don't think Caitlin cares about any of that." Eddie lifted one eyebrow, stared Joe down. "And it shouldn't matter to you either." 

"It matters to more than me." 

"Who gives a damn?" It was said with a laugh, with as much scorn as Joe had ever heard out of Eddie's lips. "She's been living with you for the last two days... you can't tell me you haven't let your mind wander." 

Joe pressed his lips together, looked down. He couldn't deny it, any more than he could deny that his mind had been given plenty of ammunition for its wandering. 

Like the fact that he now knew what it felt like to fall asleep with Caitlin in his arms. Knew what it felt like to talk to her over breakfast, sit in silence with her and read the morning newspapers. Knew what her hand felt like, small and warm, inside his, knew what it felt like to cup her cheeks in his hands, rest his forehead against hers and know that he was within a hair's breath of kissing her, sure that if he did, she wouldn't push him away. 

His mind had wandered all right. 

He just wasn't sure how he was going to get it back on track. 

"It's not that easy." Absently, he played with his wedding ring, twisting it around his finger. He stopped as soon as he realised what he was doing but Eddie must have noticed because for the first time, his face showed sympathy. 

"I know it's been a while since you've been dating anyone," he said. Joe's eyes flew to his face, wanting to know exactly how Eddie knew that - though he could guess - but Eddie didn't pause, didn't blink. "But sometimes, you've just got to know when it's time to get off the bench." He looked to his left then, towards the bullpen, and what he saw there made him grin. "Speaking of which..." He leaned forward, laid a hand on Joe's shoulder. "Batter up." 

It was no great surprise when Joe looked around to see Caitlin standing in the doorway, her eyes flicking to Eddie as he moved past her. She looked a little nervous, he noticed, and just for a second, he was back in the husk of STAR Labs earlier on today, watching her standing in front of him, Harrison Wells's arm around her neck, his hand vibrating so quickly it was a blur against her temple. 

He knew his eyes were wide, with either surprise or memory, he wasn't sure which, and her smile was uncertain as she softly said, "Hey." 

"Hey." He sat up straight in his chair, looking her up and down, searching for any kind of alarm, any kind of upset. He couldn't see any but given the few days they'd had, that didn't mean much. "Everything ok? Are you ok?"

Eddie shut the door behind him as Caitlin nodded. "I'm fine." 

How many times had he heard that over the last few days, the last few months? "Yeah?" 

Caitlin tilted her head as she approached his desk. Standing at the side, she looked down at him, resting her hip against the solid wood. "World's worst liar," she said, pointing at herself. "Police captain. I think you'd be able to tell." 

He felt his lips twitch and he fought back the smile, glad that they'd fallen so easily into their usual banter. "Point taken." Relaxing a little, he leaned back in his chair. "I thought you were going to stay at the house... I was about to call, see if you wanted me to bring some dinner back?" A white lie, he told himself - she didn't need to know he'd been sitting there brooding about his feelings for her. 

Something shifted in her face and she took a deep breath. "I guess great minds think alike... I saw Cisco... he said goodbye." Joe was instantly concerned, because that couldn't have been easy, but she looked more peaceful than he ever remembered seeing her, if you didn't count the times she'd been sleeping in his arms. Which he didn't need to think about so he pushed it aside, concentrated on what she was saying. "Barry and Iris aren't back yet, so I figure they're off celebrating and being romantic..." That was definitely put in there to try to get a reaction from him and when he narrowed his eyes, she grinned at him. "I thought you might let me buy you dinner. To say thank you." 

It was on the tip of his tongue to say that she didn't need to thank him for anything. Then he looked at her, really looked at her, saw the cock of her hip as she leaned against his desk, the tilt of her head and the look in her eyes, the tone of her voice. He thought of the last few days, of all they'd shared, remembered those times when he thought for a few fleeting moments that she might just feel for him what he felt for her. 

Something bloomed in his chest and it took him a few seconds to recognise it as hope. 

"I could do dinner." 

"Are you sure?" Her eyes fell on his desk, on the tower of paperwork that was Pisa-like in its leaning. "Because I know you probably have paperwork to do..."

He didn't think twice, steadied his hands on the table and pushed back his chair, standing up and reaching for his cane. "Paperwork can wait," he said and he knew her well enough to see her shoulders relax slightly. "Ladies first," he said, gesturing with his free hand and as they began to move, he let it fall gently to the small of her back, guiding her towards the door. 

He dropped his hand as they moved through the bullpen - he was neither that brave nor that foolish - but it may not have been quick enough because he noticed Eddie look down quickly at his own paperwork, pushing his pen across a yellow legal pad with what could only be described as a shit-eating grin on his face. Joe had been a cop for a long time and he'd never seen anyone look that happy doing paperwork. 

They didn't speak until they were outside on the street and he looked left and right, considering their options. "So," he said, "where would you like to go?" 

Caitlin didn't blink. "Your place or mine?"

She might not have blinked but he did, because of all the things he'd ever expected to Caitlin say, that had been nowhere on his list. Sure she couldn't have meant it that way, he narrowed his eyes and in that moment, she stepped closer to him, raised herself slightly on her toes. He realised what she was doing a split second before her lips met his, a split second that was long enough for his lips to turn up in a smile, a smile that was the twin of the one he felt when she kissed him. 

As far as first kisses went, it was a hell of a kiss and he felt it all the way down to his bones, pulled her closer to him as he deepened the kiss. She pressed her body against his, wound her arms around his neck and after a horrible year, months of wanting her, days of worrying about her, Joe finally felt like he was exactly where he should be. 

He lost all track of time, only drew back from her when it was becoming readily apparent to him that if he didn't stop, he wouldn't want to and a police captain had no business being arrested for public indecency. Caitlin's cheeks were flushed a pleasant shade of pink, her eyes bright, and he didn't think twice about his answer. "Your place," he said. "Definitely your place." 

Her giggle of delight was everything he wanted to hear as she slid her hand into his. "Let's go."


End file.
